Social identity and language choice in bilingual service talk

Abstract

The aim of this study is to provide an identity-related account of how service, as a form of institutional talk, is ‘talked into being’ (Heritage 1984b) in settings where more than one language can be used. In the existing body of research on service interaction (e.g. Halliday and Hasan 1980; Ventola 1987; Aston (ed.) 1988; Coupland and Ylänne-McEwen 2000), the issue of bi/multilingualism seems to have attracted little attention. Bi/multilingual service talk-in-interaction is undoubtedly a relevant researchable matter in the context of our current western society, which is becoming increasingly more service-based and multilingual as a result of globalized communication.